


Feros Arcana

by Hallow_Darkfrost



Category: Flight Rising
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:07:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28489542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hallow_Darkfrost/pseuds/Hallow_Darkfrost
Summary: Just some of my idiot dragons getting into things they shouldn't mess with.
Kudos: 1





	1. Stardust

**Author's Note:**

> Chapters are titled with POV character's name. May add tags in the future. 
> 
> This story is entirely self-indulgent so everything is kind of a mess, but if you don't mind that, I hope you enjoy!

Stardust walked alongside Saientz, close enough that he had to keep him eyes on his feet to avoid crushing Saientz’s delicate claws. He hadn’t so much as seen Saientz for weeks, and not on a regular basis for months. His friend had shut himself up in his lab, keeping everyone—including Stardust—out. It had been shocking and hurtful to find the barriers wouldn’t let him in anymore, but he’d grown more or less numb to the idea that Saientz didn’t want him around any longer. It had seemed too good to be true, that someone would really enjoy his company that much. As one of only two Snappers in the clan, it was hard not to feel completely useless. Ishtar was a legendary fighter, renowned for her service underneath the Stormcatcher before returning home to defend her old clan. Stardust? Well, Stardust was good at finding mussels. That was it. He didn’t even like shellfish.

Stardust briefly found himself wondering why he was still even friends with Saientz at all after being ignored and rejected for so long, but dismissed it almost immediately. Saientz had made him feel like he was finally wanted somewhere. He couldn’t handle anything, and Saientz had begged him not to move around too much in the lab, but for goodness sake—Sai had wanted Stardust there so much he had carved out a brand new space into his den specifically for the big, unruly Snapper to stay and observe without putting any of his materials at risk. But being _wanted_ wasn’t the only reason Saientz was his friend. They had done a lot together in the past, and spent more time with each other than with anyone else in the clan. Their shenanigans--especially those that involved going on gathering trips and then smuggling away their findings to Sai's lab--had gotten them banned from taking part in important activities altogether. It became harder to obtain materials from other territories after they were no longer allowed to gather, but it was worth it. All of it was worth it. In spite of himself, Stardust found himself smirking slightly at the memories.

This didn't go unnoticed. Sai, in all of his obliviousness, immediately picked up on this minute change in facial expression. "What're you grinning at?"

Put on the spot, Stardust sputtered awkwardly. He hadn’t spoken to Saientz alone for so long that he'd almost forgotten what it was like to have a normal conversation with him. “I, uh… I was just remembering how we used to lie when we came home from gathering trips. About the stuff we found. So you could use it in your experiments,” he finished hesitantly, half-expecting to be chastised for having a fond memory. Instead, Saientz smiled back, and an almost-forgotten feeling of warmth washed over Stardust’s entire body. 

“Those were the times, weren’t they? Remember the last straw for Vertigo? When all those gears fell out of your satchel? His face still haunts me."

“How could I forget? Boy, was he mad…”

Vertigo shot them a dirty look over his shoulder, clearly also remembering that experience. The silence broken, Stardust and Saientz began to make small talk, happily recalling the stuff they used to do together. In the grand scheme of things, it wasn't all that long ago, but it sure felt like it. The conversation was almost bittersweet, and Stardust couldn't help but feel like he'd rather be making new memories with Sai than just looking back on old ones. The conversation died naturally, and they carried on without a word for a few more miles, watching dark clouds gather on the horizon. Vertigo drew ahead a ways, and once he was out of earshot, Saientz lowered his voice to barely more than a whisper. Stardust had to strain to hear him.

“Did I ever tell you why I got into alchemy?”

Confused, Stardust shook his head. This seemed like a conversation they would have had, but he had no memory of it—and if he didn’t remember something, it didn’t happen. “No, I don’t think so.”

With a sigh, Saientz averted his eyes and fixed them on some invisible point in the distance. “I basically exited the egg with an incredibly strong desire to use magic. Once my mother trusted me to behave myself, we found a tutor within my birth clan so I could start honing my skills. I was convinced I would become one of the strongest mages in the world one day and I was so excited to start my training early. So imagine my devastation when they told me I would never be able to use magic. There's just… a flaw in my design. Something that doesn't quite work. I’m a dead end,” he said, his eyes growing marginally less focused as though he were revisiting that moment in his head. Stardust stared at the ground. Dragons were innately magical beings, and magic itself was the very heart of Sornieth… how was it possible that Saientz couldn’t use it at all? When he decided to ask Saientz this question, the Wildclaw laughed humorlessly. “Believe me. I’ve asked myself the same thing. I’ve even asked specialists all around the world about it. They’re not sure why or how it happens. There are just a handful of dragons in every generation that are completely un-magical, and most of us will never realize it, but I’m one of the lucky few who did,” Saientz said scornfully, barely concealing his contempt.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize,” Stardust said, surprised by how emotional his friend had become over this subject.

“Why would you? I never told you for a reason. I was ashamed. I got into alchemy because an Arcane scholar told me it was the closest I would ever get to practicing magic. And I think she was right. It was originally because I thought I could use it to change something about myself that would allow me to use magic like I had wanted, but over time I realized I had fallen in love with it. It’s a beautiful thing. You know how the story goes from there,” Saientz glanced at Stardust, giving him a small smile. Stardust smiled back, but before he could speak, Saientz continued. “But… I think my original plans aren’t as impossible as they once seemed. I think I’ve found a way.”

At this, a chill ran over Stardust. Something in Saientz’s voice had changed. He sounded hopeful and happy, but there was an ice-cold determination beneath his words. This didn’t sound like the Saientz that Stardust remembered. Sai was deeply passionate about his work, but he had always approached it with an open mind, high spirits, and very little planning. Perhaps he'd underestimated just how important this was to Sai. Stardust clammed up and fixed his eyes on the horizon, suddenly feeling a lot less comfortable around his friend than he had a few minutes prior. He couldn’t just turn back now, but he had a strong desire to no longer be part of Saientz’s plan.

“We’re going to a well of raw magic. I’ve devised a way to channel the magic into myself, and that influx of energy should be strong enough that whatever unseen barriers are stopping me from naturally being attuned to the magic in the world should be broken down. I’ve run a lot of tests, and the magic is so strong that I bet it could have really nasty consequences for me if it goes wrong, which is why I wanted you here. I don’t think it will, though. I’ve been incredibly thorough, and nothing bad has happened to me yet.”

_Yet._ That was the key word. “Saientz… I’m not sure this is a very good idea,” Stardust began hesitantly, afraid of the pushback he might receive. Saientz seemed unfazed.

“I had a feeling you’d say that. But I promise that everything will be okay,” he said, attempting to sound reassuring. It did not work. When Stardust didn’t respond, Saientz perked up. “There—just on the horizon, you see that butte? It’s right underneath there. There’s an opening at the base that leads into a tunnel. HEY—hey, Vertigo! We’re going to that butte up ahead!” Saientz yelled, and Vertigo swished his tail in acknowledgement.

Stardust had a horrible feeling about this.


	2. Stardust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Apparently people actually browse the Flight Rising tag on this website? Someone left me kudos and reminded me that this was here, so here's the second part of the story :')

As they approached, the butte loomed threateningly over them. The storm had rolled in by now, and rumbles of thunder shook the ground beneath their feet. No rain, fortunately, but the atmosphere was enough to make Stardust want to cower underneath a rock. He wasn’t sure why this made him so uncomfortable, but there was something off here. Saientz didn’t say anything to them once they had reconvened at the entrance to the tunnel. He just flicked his tail, signaling Stardust and Vertigo to follow as he disappeared into the rock.

As they moved single-file through the tunnel, which was of comfortable height but not nearly wide enough to walk side by side, Stardust’s sense of dread began mounting even further until he was ready to turn tail and run. Vertigo was behind him though, and he wasn’t going to risk trampling him. Vertigo could obviously tell something was wrong with Stardust, because once Saientz turned around a bend in the rock, he gently placed a claw on Stardust’s tail, which was enough to make the Snapper jump violently. “Hey. What’s wrong? You look terrified.”

“I am,” Stardust chuckled nervously, not turning around to look at his companion. “I don’t know what’s up with this place but I’m getting a really bad feeling from it. There’s something seriously wrong here. Do you feel it?” he asked hopefully, crossing his proverbial fingers that he wasn’t just losing it.

“Sort of. There’s something in the air. I can’t say I’m feeling it as deeply as you are, but it’s like that feeling you get when you get that first jolt of static electricity as a storm is rolling in. It’s like I can smell the ozone but I can’t see the clouds.”

“That’s a good way to describe it,” Stardust admitted, kicking a rock down the tunnel where it clacked loudly on the rough sandstone.

“Are you slowpokes coming or what?” Stardust’s voice echoed up the tunnel, sounding a bit impatient but mostly excited. Stardust wanted to be excited for his friend, he really did—but nothing about this felt right. He was convinced that Saientz didn’t really know what he was dealing with and was meddling in things he couldn’t control. He seemed too confident. At this point, after talking with Vertigo, Stardust was convinced it wasn’t just him being paranoid. There was obviously something here that Saientz couldn’t see.

“Y-yeah. We’re coming,” Stardust called back, trying to keep the quaver out of his voice. They rounded the corner Saientz had taken earlier and found themselves in a very large chamber with unnaturally smooth walls and floors, as though it had been carved away by wind and sand for millennia—despite being located deep underground. Saientz was standing near a table he had set up that was covered in what looked to be mostly random junk, but which probably had some kind of greater purpose. The Wildclaw produced something that looked a bit like a metal rod that sported a large crystal at the tip. If Stardust squinted, he could make out the wire that had been used to tie the crystal on. He stared in disbelief. _Seriously? Sai couldn’t even be bothered to weld it on?_ Taking Stardust’s shocked look as curiosity, Saientz began to prattle on about the alchemical properties imbued in the staff and how they should help purify the raw magic and direct it to a specific place. But Stardust was not listening. His eyes had landed on the pool in the middle of the chamber that he had so far been avoiding.

It pulsed with soft light and moved like both a liquid and a gas, swirling around aimlessly. It seemed to sense it was being watched and began to pulse more violently, causing Stardust’s scales to stand on end. He needed to get out of here. His breathing quickened and without seeking approval from Saientz, he turned around and began to lumber quickly back to the tunnel, hugging as close to the walls as he could manage.

“Stardust? Where are you going?” Saientz sounded confused upon noticing Stardust’s quick and unsubtle getaway.

“I’m sorry Sai, I can’t do this. This place is really freaking me out.”

“Oh… okay. I’ll get it over with, then,” Saientz frowned and approached the pool slowly. A spike of utter terror stabbed through Stardust’s chest, and by the time he had started opening his mouth to beg for Saientz to stop, his friend was dipping the rod into the swirling pool of raw magic.

The effect was instantaneous. The magic exploded out of the pool like a geyser, sending sparks flying everywhere. Saientz stumbled back, a look of horror on his face. This was obviously not going according to plan. The magic crept across the ceiling like mycelium and pulsed wildly for a few seconds before it burst into another shower of sparks. Stardust was frozen in fear, hypnotized by the wild light show. It was because of this that he didn’t notice quick enough when the magic had begun to congeal above his head. He heard a panicked shout of warning from Saientz but it was too late, and seemingly in response to the sound, the magic suddenly hurtled towards him like a frenzied bolt of lightning, crackles of magical electricity flying everywhere.

“Oh gods,” was all Stardust could say before the magic hit him square in the chest. In his last second of consciousness, he was aware of a roaring in his ears, the cries of shock from his friends, and an all-consuming pain that set every single nerve in his body on fire. Then the world went white, and everything was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stardust's POV ends here for a while, the poor guy.


End file.
